Former Jamaica ace hopes new guide for mums in football leads to better support for female players with children
CHEYNA MATTHEWS hopes new guidelines for mums in football will make it “less taboo” for female players to bring their children to sports events.
The former Jamaica player, 30, shared her thoughts as part the ‘Return to Play’ guide launched today by global players union Fifpro.
The 48-page guide was produced with input from current and former elite players who are parents, including Matthews, who is a mother-of-three.
Other elite players who are mums and shared their experiences include ex-Iceland midfielder Sara Bjork Gunnarsdottir who won a maternity pay claim case against French giants Lyon last January.
The guide provides information on topics such as sleep hygiene, breastfeeding and pelvic health.
It also provides advice on nutrition for players for during and after pregnancy, management of mental wellbeing, and returning to exercise post-pregnancy.
The guide includes insights from experts on pregnancy and reproductive health, women’s football and Fifa maternity regulations.
And Matthews, who played for Jamaica at the 2019 and 2023 World Cups, hopes it will lead to better support for female footballers wanting to blend their roles as mothers and elites athletes.
The former forward, said: “For me, I tried to keep my children away from the club environment because I didn’t want to be looked at as the mum, I wanted to be looked at as a professional.
“I think that was probably my biggest challenge – finding that balance of how often do I have my children around, do they travel with me?
“It’s those kinds of things and I just worked with my family and the support and resources that I had outside of the team to make it fit what I felt like I should do in my professional environment.
“These guidelines will really help, in terms of having the professional life and the family life intersect, where it’s not as taboo to have your child travel with you on a trip.
“And it’s not considered a distraction and there’s a space for it.”
Last month in Paris retired United States sprint star Allyson Felix opened the first nursery to be set up in an Olympic village.
The seven-time Olympic gold-medallist told NBC the idea for this at the Paris games “was top of mind to support athletes are mothers”.
Felix, who won an election to represent athletes on the IOC, said: “It’s here so that mothers and families feel supported.
“Having some normalcy is great, just to have an actual space dedicated for this.”
Matthews, has 18 senior Jamaica caps, hopes Fifpro’s new guidelines will open doors for similar spaces at football tournaments.
The forward, who played for Washington Spirit, Racing Louisville and Chicago RedStars from 2016 to 2023, adds: “Having the childcare centre for the Olympians is huge.
“I can just see with the (Fifpro) guideline how it will open doors for maybe sponsors and different supporters to have these experiences for players in the football environment as well.”